We really liked our mooring at Bugsworth Basin. Unlike some of the moorings, we had a bank between us and the A6, so we didn’t really hear the road at all. Being at the end. It also felt as though we had our own bit of garden. Today, a much shorter day than yesterday, but we managed to moor up four times! First thing this morning we moved round to the water point near the entrance to the basins to fill the tank, deal with the rubbish and recycling (they even have a food waste bin here) and do the loo. The water pressure from the tap was so good we had to turn it down a bit, because the end of the hose flew out of the filler. Once the tank was full we continued just round the corner and moored immediately before the junction, on some rings which are really handy for Tesco. You can then walk down a rather steep slope to the car park, and a route under the canal.
I went to do some shopping for a few days while Adrian stayed with Macc. When we were ready to set off again, it was only about a boat length to the junction — where we turned left towards Whaley Bridge. We did the arm just for completeness really; it’s lined with permanent moorings, has a busy road alongside, and there’s just a winding hole when you get to the end. Actually there’s also an old canal trans-shipment building which is worth a visit, which we had a look at on one of our Braidbar visits during the build.
The arm is only half a mile long, so not much time had elapsed before we were back at Whaley Bridge Junction, this time heading back towards Marple.
Our third stop of the day was at Furness Vale Marina for diesel, as it’s only 93p per litre there which is significantly cheaper than the options on the Macc. The marina was recently bought by Aquavista, and it seems that one of the changes is that their credit card payment machine only works when the manager and her laptop are on site. Today they weren’t, so we left our details and apparently she’ll phone us next week to take payment. It seems an odd way of doing business. We made one further short hop, through the next swing bridge, and moored up with a nice view across the valley.
That white building is a signal box on the Manchester to Sheffield line. On the other side of the boat we have the Manchester to Buxton route, and this afternoon I took a little walk into Furness Vale and happened to be crossing the line as a train came into the station.
It’s been much colder today and a bit rainy at times, although we didn’t get as wet as we thought we might. It’s also nice to have stocked up on water, food, and diesel all in one day.
3 miles, 0 locks. (21 miles, 0 locks)